2019: Ramon Colillas
2023: Aliaksandr Shylko#PSPC Champion pic.twitter.com/c6BmRPWHad

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) February 4, 2023

This year’s PSPC Main Event witnessed the on-the-felt continuation of introducing poker celebrities and casual players to high profile professionals from around the globe. Famous folks like Breaking Bad and Billions actor David Costabile, Teen Wolf actress Arden Cho, and longtime Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari of Brazil all competed in the tournament, which attracted 1,014 total runners.

With the 2023 PSPC has officially wrapped up, here is a look at how this year’s event compares to the inaugural PokerStars Players Championship that took place in 2019.

2023 PSPC vs. 2019 PSPC: By The Numbers

Similar to 2019, the 2023 PokerStars PSPC hosted players from 63 countries, spanning a total of six continents worldwide.

The United States was the most heavily-represented country during both events, with this year’s U.S. participation reaching 265 contestants.

However, the countries of Spain and France surpassed Canada in 2023 as the second and third most highly represented countries at the PSPC (132 players from Spain, 105 competitors from France, and 87 entrants from Canada). This number could be reflective of the event’s European popularity following Spaniard Ramon Colillas‘ inaugural PSPC victory in 2019.

Overall, 69 of the 418 Platinum Pass winners (16.5%) eventually cashed in the 2023 PSPC — a significant percentage-based increase over the 14.3% of Platinum Pass winners that cashed in the 2019 PokerStars PSPC (46 out of 320).

The event awarded 98 (30%) more Platinum Passes in 2023 than in 2019, and two Platinum Pass winners found themselves at the 2023 PokerStars PSPC final table (similar to 2019).

2023 PokerStars PSPC: A Truly “Global” Poker Tournament

Any high stakes live poker tournament that is capable of attracting competitors from six different continents (and 63 countries) has shown its ability to become a truly global affair.

The PokerStars Live brand has established an extremely unique format through its PSPC events in the Bahamas that pits the knowledge and skills of veteran poker pros against the aspirations of casual players as well as mainstream celebrities. To paraphrase legendary UFC announcer Bruce Buffer (who was also in attendance and competing after kickstarting the festivities), it was “the pros vs. the average Joes”.

Such an environment not only appeals to poker players throughout the world who get to achieve their “poker dream” by rubbing shoulders with some of the top poker professionals and content creators, but also ensures that these individuals are able to compete against each other for high stakes cash prizes.

2023 PokerStars PSPC: Participating Countries

265 USA, 132 Spain, 105 France, 87 Canada, 64 Germany, 60 United Kingdom, 43 Brazil, 18 Austria
17 Portugal, 16 Romania, 14 Ireland, 14 Russia, 13 Italy, 12 Argentina, 12 Hungary, 11 Bulgaria
10 Netherlands, 8 Lithuania, 6 Belgium, 6 Poland, 6 Ukraine, 5 Belarus, 5 Peru, 5 Finland, 5 Norway

4 Australia, 4 Colombia, 4 India, 4 Denmark, 4 Sweden, 4 Switzerland
3 Greece, 3 Latvia, 3 Thailand, 3 Venezuela, 3 Turkey
* More than two dozen other countries were represented in the 2023 PokerStars PSPC

Live Poker Boom in 2023 and Beyond?

High profile live poker tournaments such as the PokerStars Players Championship and others seem to be giving rise to a new “live poker boom,” especially when considering the multi-cultural, worldwide representation that PokerStars and other brands are able to attract through marketing and “poker vacation” awards.

Viewership numbers on both Twitch and YouTube tend to spike once action has played down to a few tables, especially when the high stakes competitors represent a blend of well-known pros, big-name celebrities, and unknown poker hopefuls — all of whom have a legitimate chance at a six (or even seven) figure payday.

Huge global poker festivals also allow hosting casinos to spread the game of poker 24 hours a day (even when televised tournaments are on break) through cash games, side events, and qualifier tournaments.

If the congenial mix of poker pros, poker celebrities, and poker hopefuls is able to be replicated on a consistent basis, chances are that live poker tournament fields will continue to increase due to the corresponding positive exposure (and massive participation numbers) that the game of poker receives during these events.

Robbie: Let’s start by asking how much you think you’ve won at previous PCA events prior to this year?

Parker: Negative hundreds of thousands.

Robbie: Well, the public records show it to be $29,530.

Parker: That’s what I would have cashed for; that’s not what I won.

Robbie: LOL, okay point made. Well, in the 2019 PSPC you finished 177th, and also there was a $2,200 side event that you played. What was it like that first time, back in 2019, to be a part of the PSPC? How has it changed over the years since you’ve now become a PokerStars Pro and now that you’re here for a second time?

Parker: Yeah, definitely a different vibe being a part of the team here. But both events have very similar vibes. Everyone is just very excited to be here. Just a great place to be, the Bahamas. I prefer this venue, and everyone’s having a good time. It’s hard not to have a good time when a third of the field is here on a Platinum Pass and we’re here playing a $25,000 buy-in tournament. You know, it’s difficult to be too upset.

Robbie: For sure. Ok, let’s rewind. Back in 2020, you were one of the last players to cash in a live ranking event before COVID closed all the doors. You finished 15th in the WPT Fallsview event at Niagara Falls. What are your memories of that event and what was daily life like in Toronto for you at the time?

Parker: Daily life would have been normal I think. That was a little bit pre-COVID I think. But I do have a funny story from that tournament. Seventeen players left. We have 15 minutes left in Day 3, I guess. It must have been Day 3. An old fellow on my left, must be about 70-75 years old. With 15 minutes left in the day, he’s got about 18 blinds. And he just turns to me and goes “I’m too tired, I’ve got to go to bed.” And I was like “Yeah. Fair enough. I mean there’s only like 15 minutes left.” And he didn’t understand, I guess, that it was an option that he could just leave. So he sat there and went all in until he busted.

Robbie: Wow!

Parker: And he just blasted it off. He busted in like 16th or 17th place, right away.

Robbie: So that’s something you aspire to when you’re 70? Same thing?

Parker: [laughs] Listen, I do aspire to become a recreational player. That should be everyone’s aspiration. If you can become recreational, you know. Then you don’t have to be one of these sharks, licking their chops, playing. You can just sit there and play and have a great time. But I would probably never do this. I would probably just get up and leave. And hope to come back with 8 big blinds the following day or something.

Robbie: Ok. Well, you really pushed yourself in the 2020 WSOP online series, cashing eight times. It was a unique experience in general, the fact that all poker was online exclusively for a long time. Do you think that that period of time that we all went through and yourself as primarily an online player helps us all appreciate the live poker experience more?

Parker: I think so. I feel like live poker is booming at the moment. I feel like everywhere we go it’s decent fields. Especially in America. There’s a lot popping off in America right now. But in Europe we had massive fields in EPT Prague in December; record breaking. There’s a lot of people looking to play live poker right now. And I feel COVID has to have a hand in that. People must have been so fired up to play after two years of not playing.

Robbie: Yeah.

Parker: I know a lot more private games, underground games, started during COVID. People couldn’t play at the casinos, live cash games, like that. I feel like people are so excited just to get back in the casinos and that.

Robbie: Well, that’s other people. How about you? I specifically ask about you, again, because you made your name primarily online. Obviously, you’re doing a lot more live poker now. But how do you feel about it now, having gone through that period where it just wasn’t possible?

Parker: Yeah, I’m a lot more interested in live poker these days, to be honest. I’ll be playing all the EPTs this year. I’ll be going to Vegas to play the World Series, probably just to play the Main Event, maybe a couple of other tournaments. I’m definitely a lot more interested in live. I was just saying, it’s been 13 years of live poker and I have never won. I’ve never even gotten second, actually.

That’s my only real goal in poker right now, to win a live poker trophy. To get a nice winner’s photo and a win in a tournament. I see a lot of people win a lot of live poker tournaments. I see a lot of players win multiple – even back-to-back sometimes. I see they may be a decent player, but I know that I’ve put in the work. I know that I am definitely better than some of these individuals. And some of these players just rip through a bunch of titles.

I’m just like “I could do that! Surely that’s going to happen at some point.” I just want to win a trophy. I’d love to win a spade at an EPT or something. I’ve been out here trying. I’ve been grinding a lot. I’ve played a lot of tournaments here. I’ve played lots of side events. But still no luck. But yeah. I’m definitely loving live poker big time. I’ve definitely enjoyed playing live poker a little bit more than online. I love the atmosphere. I love the game. I love the live poker game at the moment. I’ll be definitely playing a lot this year. Really looking for that trophy.

Robbie: Well, since you brought it up, at the end of the day, poker is a game where you try to “score the most points” and win the most money. Simultaneously, we’re not supposed to be results-oriented – even recreationals – we’re supposed to be process-oriented.

Parker: It’s tough not to be at some point.

Robbie: That’s exactly my question. Given that, why is it that the trophy is so important to you? If you can just keep winning money, being a winning player, and being profitable at the game?

Parker: Well, in a live poker setting, I’m feeling like I’m not winning money. I mean I guess I am winning recently, a little bit. I just got a score in Prague where I got fifth place. My biggest score ever, actually, $270k or so. It’s obviously a much more profitable venture if you do win. And I’m not being results-oriented in that I’m saying that I think that I’m a bad player or that I’ve really screwed it up. Listen, I’ve definitely screwed up some deep runs. You know, I’ve had a lot of sweats. I’ve had a lot of 10-20th place finishes in $10k high rollers and stuff like that. A couple of Main Event final tables, a couple of Main Event final table bubbles, lots of side event nonsense, you know.

I think it’ll just come. It’s just frustrating because it’s 13 years, you know. That’s a long time. I guess only really seven or eight years of actually playing a lot of live poker and taking it seriously. The first four or five years of playing poker and going to live events, I really just treated it like a vacation. Because I really didn’t like live poker too much. So I’d win a package to an EPT, come to an EPT, play the main event, and then go out drinking for a week and a half. That was what we did when I was 23 at live stops.

Robbie: You only live once.

Parker: Yeah. These days I only play live tournaments. So it’s a little bit different.

Robbie: Gotcha. Well I do have to ask, do you think that you’re due for a ridiculous months-long sun run? Or is it that you generally feel that there’s more you need to be getting into the lab to do to take your game to the next level, and that’s when the big scores and wins will happen for you?

Parker: No, I think I just need to get a lucky streak of cards and just absolutely tear through it. I don’t know, the whole “due” stuff. I feel like I want to think that I’m due and I’ll have some sun run. But no one’s owed anything in poker. And especially in live poker where even if you’re a grinder, even if I go to eight live stops this year and spend a big portion of my year playing live poker, I’m still playing literally a handful of tournaments that I could play online in like a week. That’s the crazy thing about live poker. It is just a variance shit-show. Obviously, the elite players have a little bit of a step up on the other players. But at the end of the day it really is a shit-show. Sometimes even a recreational player will go on a heater, win three out of five tournaments, and everyone thinks they’re a god now.

That’s really how it goes in poker. It’s pretty wild how, especially in America. I’m just looking to be that lucky donk. A donk for a couple of months. I just want to be that lucky donk.

Robbie: Well you mentioned Prague. Obviously, that’s got to be one of your favorite experiences, making the final table at EPT Prague Main Event.

Parker: Twice!

Robbie: Twice! Tell us about that journey, and what that meant, being in that spot, just a couple of months ago.

Parker: Yeah, in December. It was an incredible experience. It’s so much fun running deep in live poker tournaments. It’s one of the reasons that you love it so much, you know. Especially because I play quite aggressively. Often when I do I manage to have a big stack. There’s nothing better than having a big chip stack deep in a big live poker tournament.

Robbie: To play your game.

Parker: Yeah. That was a really enjoyable experience. It was an incredible, incredible time. Yeah, it was fun.

Robbie: Ok. Well obviously you do a lot of co-commentary yourself. That final table that you made was commented on the stream by your fellow PokerStars ambassador Sam Grafton. What do you make of his thoughts on your play? Or have you not watched it?

Parker: I haven’t watched it back yet, actually. But I hope he said nice things. Sam’s a very high-level elite player. I think I feel okay about how I played on the final table. There are a couple of spots where I messed up a couple of sizes a little bit. But I don’t think I made any tremendous blunders or anything. I was quite pleased with that. I don’t know why I haven’t watched it back yet. To be honest, I don’t really like to watch myself.

Robbie: Really? You don’t find it instructive to watch for live tells? Or how you would have done things differently?

Parker: You know, live tells is just a myth in my opinion. I don’t really believe in it. I believe there are maybe three to five people in the world who can actually live-read players at the table. And I believe that everyone else who thinks they can are just bullshitting themselves.

Robbie: Interesting.

Parker: I think it’s just important to not give off live tells.

Robbie: That’s fair.

Parker: As long as you do the same thing in every hand, and you don’t do anything weird or foolish, I think you should be good. But in terms of being able to pin down reads on people at the table, I think it’s just a guessing game that people do and people convince themselves they’ve got something on their opponents when they don’t.

Robbie: Playing poker in a location like the Bahamas is pretty amazing. Does it make it harder to focus at the felt? Here, specifically, as opposed to other live stops? Knowing that the beaches, the sand, the pool, the other distractions are there, and that it’s almost a shame that you don’t necessarily leave the building too much.

Parker: Definitely, for sure. And I would say that 6-10 years ago not so much for me. But these days I’m definitely getting older and now I would just like to go to the beach today and just lounge. Whereas 23-year-old me would have been like “Nah. I’m not going to the beach. We’re going to gamble, we’re going to drink, we’re going to go out, and do something.” But these days I’m much more like “Yeah, I would like to sit on the beach and have a little dip in the ocean.” So, yeah, more than ever now. And I would assume for other people, for sure. More than myself. Because usually I’m really into the cards and whatnot. I mean, I don’t really find it hard to stay away from it to be honest, personally. Even though we’re heading in that direction a little bit. I’m still fired up and ready to get in that $2k side event.

Robbie: You’re hugely popular. You’re a known name, a known personality for all the stuff you’ve done over 13 years. You’ve also been an ambassador for other online poker companies, previously. How does being a PokerStars Team Pro differ and is being a sponsored PokerStars Pro all that you might have thought it would be prior to signing your deal?

Parker: Oh definitely. I think maybe it’s a little bit – when I was 18 looking up to PokerStars Pros, I was like “That’s cool. I bet that would be cool.” And it is cool, but it’s such a different world once you’re in it you know. I’d say Stars’ team is incredible. It’s so nice to work at Stars, because all my friends work at Stars. Like Spraggy (Benjamin Spragg) and Lex Veldhuis, and Fintan Hand. I’ve been good friends with the three of those idiots for so many years. It’s honestly incredible. Spragg and I are going to make a ton of content this year. We’re going to make some stuff with Fintan. We’re going to do a lot of YouTube stuff, we’re going to do a whole bunch of stuff this year. I’m really looking forward to doing all that this year. But just in general it’s great to work with Stars. It’s great to work with your buddies.

Robbie: Awesome. Funny you mentioned Mr. Spragg. That is our last question, actually. You can either give up poker for a whole year or you have to spend one straight month rooming with Spraggy, playing every day on stream. Which do you choose and why?

Parker: Ha! I mean, it would be really good content. And really good for me to trip my ass just to stream for a whole month. So I’ll take the streaming with Spragg for sure. Although we’re going to beat each other up.

Robbie: And that’s your final answer, you’re locking it in?

Parker: Final answer. Get me in the mix with Spragg.

Robbie: Awesome. Thanks so much for your time.

One family member who is right by her husband’s side is Concetta Rand, whose other half Jon is also known as ‘Slow Poker’ on YouTube.

Running for His PSPC Life

If you aren’t already familiar with the story of Jon and ‘Runner Runner’ then you missed out on the opportunity to win a Platinum Pass to play in the $25,000-entry PSPC. Spending three weeks as a fugitive, Jon had to evade capture by any would-be ‘bounty hunters’ out there as the world of poker fans turned sleuth in order to catch him and claim the Platinum Pass. If he evaded capture, then he would win the Platinum Pass.

There was just one cardinal rule, namely that Jon had to “come of of hiding” to play one hour of live poker every other day in a land-based poker room and publicly demonstrate proof of said poker play. Here’s what happened on his incredible journey.

Having successfully evaded capture for 18 days, thus winning himself the Platinum Pass prize package, Jon opted to bring his family out to the Caribbean as they travelled to Baha Mar Resort, the stunning location for the PSPC. His wife, Concetta, was drifting along the on-site waterpark’s lazy river one morning when she spotted yours truly in a pair of PokerStars swim shorts. I’m all-in on a poker trip, and I don’t mind wearing a ‘Spadie’ on my trunks.

Concetta approached me, thinking that with Jon at the felt playing Day 1 of the tournament that “shouldn’t I be there, too?” That’s when I explained I was neither a player nor PokerStars staff member, but rather a member of the poker media corps. I then proceeded to ask her about her husband and slowly, but surely, uncovered the untold story behind Runner, Runner – the family Jon Rand was coming home to.

“We live in North Carolina and don’t have a huge poker circle, so it’s cool to see him in this environment,” said Concetta. “What Jon did on Poker.Org as Runner Runner…” she drifts away, clearly in awe of her husband. “He was approached with this opportunity; they said, ‘These are the rules — you’re going to be a fugitive’.”

The Family Man Explains

As you might imagine, Jon had a fair amount of explaining to do to his wife of 11+ years and their two children aged six and nine. Or rather, just Concetta.

“When he pitched it, he was like ‘I don’t know if I need burner phones, or if we can talk.’ I said ‘I gotta know where you’re staying, what hotel you’re in.’ I’d run into friends and they’d say ‘Is Jon away again?’ I had one very awkward conversation where one of my friends said ‘Where is he?’ I was like, ‘He’s away,’ and he was like ‘Where?’ He was genuinely curious. I found out after the fact that people were asking questions on the kids’ playdates. I couldn’t explain while it was happening [to the children] because kids talk! I told them ‘Dad’s going away for a couple weeks.’ He’s done playwriting commissions that might take him someplace, but they were broad strokes.”

Jon has been an entrepreneur and creative professional for over 20 years. It fit in with his skills as a performance coordinator in schools brilliantly, and also with his recent adaptation to the poker industry.

“Jon started playing poker in late 2016. He didn’t have a lot of experience. He started playing in home games. When COVID hit and live performances stopped, he was trying to navigate a new path and has been on this creative experience ever since. On one hand, [Runner, Runner] seemed completely absurd and out of left field, but I believed him 1000% because the thing about his creative work that I love and celebrate — and struggle with at times — is you don’t know where it’s going to lead.”

Concetta freely admits that her husband Jon has ‘an incredible creativity and talent and a brain that combines art and science in a super amazing way’. For this challenge, those skills were relied on like never before, and both the Rands were blown away by Poker.Org’s trust in his ability to deliver. He didn’t let them down, providing drama until the very last seconds of the challenge.

“We’ve never been apart for three weeks since we met. Just knowing that his writing talent for so long has been concentrated with high school and parents and a specific niche, and now he’s exposed that writing and performing ability to adults – I was so thrilled it was with Runner Runner. Who doesn’t need three weeks on the road? What a cool thing. But I don’t want to take any credit for anything other than being a sounding board.”

Rating Their Chances of Victory 

Concetta says Jon was ‘more paranoid’ about his chances of success, and flew by the seat of his pants. For a ‘poker fugitive on the run,’ he couldn’t possibly plan every aspect of three weeks on the road ahead of time, having to be flexible and change plans frequently along the way, driving thousands of miles in the opposite direction at times.

“He was driving to Cherokee and [the Only Friends Podcast] mentioned [the casino] live on air. He said ‘You try to figure out as far as you can see’. One day he stayed up ‘til after midnight so that would be his day [playing an hour of poker every other day].

The process was a fascinating one to watch from afar in Concetta’s shoes. She thinks that the restrictions helped her other half this time round, but — should such a content happen again — that it might get tougher to outrun the bounty hunters in the future.

“It’s like watching Survivor season 1,” she says. “You watch it saying ‘Next time they’ll tweak it’. In my head I always believed he’d win. He has so many incredible gifts and talents and I remember telling somebody, ‘The internet’s not going to find my husband.’”

On the very first day of the challenge, Jon put out a clue of a photo of a Texaco gas station. It almost turned out to be a disaster.

“Within six hours, they knew where he’d been,” says Concetta. “The fact they pinpointed his location as quickly as they did was crazy. Had they published that security video [showing his face], then they would have caught him.”

When Jon outran the bounty hunters and won the prize, it was a magical moment, but Concetta couldn’t share it with him at the time. With Jon in a different time zone, communication was already difficult, but then a family drama threatened the announcement of the news.  A few hours before Jon won, he called his wife for a chat.

“Not only was it three in the morning but I was in the Emergency Department of a hospital on that Friday night. Our daughter had stomach issues and I’d begged a friend to pick my son up from the emergency room… then Jon called me. I had no plans of telling him [about our daughter] but he heard the hospital announcement in the background. We were going on a trip to the mountains on Saturday morning. Jon was going to fly in and meet us there.”

The family descended on the mountains after Concetta woke up to the news and sent back a flurry of emojis. The reunion was special.

“He met us in the mountains five or six hours after we got there. At this point, he was exhausted. It’s a really complicated thing to explain [to friends]. He hadn’t been with people that knew him [for so long]. It took me a day to realize the implications of him winning, and the release of not being alone as a single parent to get through it all!”

Coming to The Bahamas

Having Jon back was very special, and it wasn’t long before the couple brought their children to the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.

“He’s working all the time because he wants to put on his own blog, the downloads of the competition, so I have him back, but I know he’s so excited to be a part of it and make it a great experience for everyone. Stepping into this ‘Slow Poker’ experience, seeing this persona and content that brings people a lot of joy – that flow state – is super attractive. When you see your partner doing what they’re meant to be doing, and in a way no-one else could do… its what we should all want for each other.”

Jon – who essentially began his content-led journey to Baha Mar during COVID – put his head down and did something new. Concetta admits it’s made her ‘itch’ for more travel.

“No two days have been the same, and in a place so extravagant, what I take from it is that I hope we get the chance to come back. I haven’t thought about [Jon winning] because Jon has said its highly unlikely. The stuff we love in life doesn’t cost anything. It’s more about the journey and what he’s doing. I just want people to see his channel and what he’s creating.”

Poker’s Runner Runner, Jon Rand, managed to execute another deep run, outlasting over 75% of the field in the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship. While he found two bags along the way and made it into Day 3, his run ultimately came to an end a few dozen spots away from an in-the-money finish.

Concetta’s reaction to her husband’s PSPC run was telling, “the stuff that we love in life doesn’t really cost a ton, and while it would be insane to have a windfall, to us it’s more about the journey and what Jon’s doing. I just want people to see his channel and what he’s creating. The money side of it is very much an afterthought. I want him to be proud of what he does and be energized by the experience. I would love for him to surprise himself and run way further than he thought he would.”

While making the money proved elusive, it’s abundantly clear to the poker community that Slow Poker is a winner in the game. And from having gotten to meet and speak with his wife, Concetta, and learn about the rich family life of Jon Rand, it’s clear that he’s also quite the winner in the game of life as well.

*Ed. note: Thanks to Paul Seaton for his behind-the-scenes assistance with the crafting of this feature.

Arden’s YouTube videos have hundreds of thousands of views while somehow remaining down-to-earth, frank and inclusive of moving testimonials about everything from laziness being her least favorite trait in others to how her hard work and her belief in how “opportunity and preparation” makes your luck more than just pure happenstance. She believes in “self positivity”, plays in Phil Hellmuth’s online home game, creates music, is a black belt in taekwondo and speaks out and for women in poker. She’s made her place in the world of acting and now poker, by believing in herself, having resiliency and the knowledge that “nothing that’s good or great is easy”.

Arden was kind enough to give Cardplayer Lifestyle some of her time at the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship and discuss the “poker side of her life” in our interview, an edited transcript of which is included below.

Robbie Strazynski – Cardplayer Lifestyle: When and how did you first learn to play poker?

Arden Cho: I attempted to start learning when I was in college and, Boy, was I bad! I feel like you hear that quite often, but I definitely lost a lot at the beginning. Luckily we were playing very small: $0.10/$0.25 and $0.25/$0.50.

But yeah, I played in college mostly in the dorms with friends. I wasn’t really into partying and going out. I wasn’t really quite extroverted, so I really loved that poker was a fun activity to do, and it’s a game.

It’s a very deep, thought-provoking game — and I love the challenge.

Robbie: What was it about the game that initially appealed to you – and is that thing something you still enjoy about poker today?

Arden: The competition; wanting to be better. Of course, there’s always the stigma that women shouldn’t play poker. That was something I heard often in college. The boys would be like, “Oh, this is just a boys’ night. You can’t play.”

So I dabbled a little online and that was even tougher. I think it was just the fact that I wanted to learn.

And of course, back then, I probably should’ve just gotten a coach and read some more poker books or something. I guess you just keep trying and trying. I think the fun thing about poker is that there’s really no “one way to play.” That’s probably the most interesting aspect of it.

I know now that there’s obviously “optimal” play and I hear all that, but at the same time for a recreational player — I don’t play all that much anymore and when I do play it’s just really for fun so I think that I just love that the game is always changing.

I think through the years I’ve met a lot of incredibly talented players. I have friend I respect a lot and their game. And of course, I’m at a point where I don’t really have an ego and I love to ask friends what I did wrong in a situation. Or what I could have done better, and I think that’s what I really enjoy. I love learning and I also love hearing different opinions.

Sometimes people are like, “Oh, that’s an interesting way to play it.” And I guess your result might have been bad, or could have been good, but it’s also one of those things where you try not to be so ‘results-oriented.’ Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Robbie: Hard work and perseverance are two character traits that tend to serve people well in life, and of course at the poker table as well. Your father is a grandmaster in taekwondo, and you’re a black belt. Do you think your training with your father helped form some of your appreciation for hard work and perseverance?

Arden:  Oh, of course. I actually feel like there’s a lot of overlap in entertainment and poker. Anything really competitive in sports in general — you really do have to be resilient. You have to be willing to take shots. You can’t be afraid to fail. You can’t be afraid to lose.

I always see it as a lot of similarities in poker and acting as well. I think having that resilience or foundation; that attitude is very important.

Robbie:  So, I do have to follow up then. As far as that resilience, how do you bounce back? Everyone’s human. How do you bounce back from a bad beat or the day just didn’t go well — it was raining when you wanted it to be sunny?

Arden: Oh, man! Let’s see. At least in acting, I have quit more times than I can count. Whenever I play poker, I’ve probably quit more times than I can count as well. I always tell people that I think that’s pretty normal. I think it’s normal to be like, “You know what? I’m done. I can’t take it anymore. It’s just too brutal.”

Definitely over the years, there have been times when I’ve been, “Wow! I’m really running bad; maybe playing bad.” When you’re running bad you also sometimes play worse. It’s just like this mental battle, right? So, yeah. I’ve had a lot of ups-and-downs but I always think I could just still come back because I love the challenge. I love the fight, and nothing good comes easy.

Robbie: And then when you do win, it feels amazing…

Arden:  It feels so good. Even in the acting career, when you get those wins and you get those great opportunities; the great roles — it’s like winning a tournament. Of course, I’ve never done that in poker yet. Knock on wood! Hopefully one of these days!

I’m quite new to the tournament scene. I’ve played probably less than 15 events. Honestly, it’s been hard for me to find like a big, long sum of time to be able to play an event if it’s going to potentially be multiple days. And you don’t want to try if it’s going to be like, “By Day 2 or 3, in case I make it, I have to go back to work.”

So that’s always tough, but I think definitely getting close is almost more devastating versus busting out the first day and you’re like, “Oh, well. There it goes.”

Robbie:  I’m familiar with that myself. I play cash games exclusively for that exact reason. I don’t want to get stuck in a tournament if maybe, for example, I’m going to have an interview opportunity with Arden Cho! And then come up and say, “I’m in the tournament. Sorry!”

Arden: Well, it’s funny because that’s the thing. I actually play cash games, and the thing I like about that is I play a lot of games with friends and people I know in life, and they’re all incredible people. It’s sort of like a round of golf.

You play together for 4-5 hours. You play for a bit; catch up on life. You maybe watch a game and hang out. It’s sort of like a nice activity if you’re not one to wanna go clubbing every weekend. I’m just sort of not that person.

My girlfriends always tease me because they’re like, “You’re the only girl we know that her ideal Friday night is playing cards.” And I go, “Well, think about it — I can eat, get a massage, and play poker all simultaneously while hanging out with my friends.” I mean, nothing really beats that. You can’t get a massage at the club.

Robbie: Generally speaking, when you prepare yourself for something mentally and physically, you’re able to achieve peak performance. What mental and physical preparation do you do before a big poker event such as the PokerStars Players Championship?

Arden: One: I want to get a good night’s rest. Two: I don’t have huge expectations for myself. I’m so new to tournaments, I’m just happy to play and happy to have a shot.

I’m definitely talking to a lot of my poker-player friends who are pros and getting advice and trying to get some last-minute cramming in.

It’s nice. I feel like I’m very lucky everyone’s very helpful. I kind of like that about the poker industry. I feel like people are open to helping you get better. I feel like it’s interesting. I feel like sometimes certain industries are very competitive and less people want to help you.

Maybe I’m just lucky. I’ve met a lot of great pros who are very nice and want to help; give me tips. And I feel like it’s makes it fun and welcoming because I don’t really know how to play tournaments. I’ve gotten lucky in some and had a couple of deep runs and I feel like there’s definitely a mix of luck.

My first $25k (buy-in), I didn’t last very long. I lost of couple of flips. Things didn’t really go my way.

It happens, but I feel like I’m definitely still trying to figure out how to be prepared because I was definitely really nervous coming into the $25k. It is a very tough field full of amazing players, so that was quite intimidating for someone like me, but it was fun!

Robbie: You’re one of over 1,000 players in this PSPC field, and among those you’re one of over 400 who received a Platinum Pass. You’re no stranger to big time poker events, having racked up $150K in results over the years. How did it feel when you received a Platinum Pass from PokerStars?

Arden: It was so exciting! Honestly, it’s such a treat. I feel really lucky that PokerStars is encouraging to women — especially who are non-pros — wanting to “take a shot” and be a part of this world because it is quite intimidating.

A lot of my friends that might enjoy poker would never even consider coming to something like this. Because, “Why would you?” You might have no shot. But PokerStars giving these Platinum Passes — I feel like it’s such a cool opportunity. I don’t know if I would’ve come otherwise, right?

Robbie: Have you experienced a phenomenon that when other women watch you play under the bright lights, it makes them want to play poker, too?

Arden: I think a lot of friends recently… it’s actually been really funny. I’ll have friend where they see me play and they’ll be like, “Oh, I watched you play!” Or, “She watched your stream and she thinks you’re so cool!”

And I’m like, “Really?” Because I’m a bit embarrassed. I don’t think I’m good enough and I don’t really want people to see me play because it’s embarrassing. I’m like, “Give me a couple of years!”

I think it’s exciting because people are more like, “No, it’s cool! It’s cool that you’re sitting there with the guys, holding your own.” I think I’m also starting to realize that as well — that even if I’m sitting there and feeling nervous and scared — that other people can’t see that. That’s the game.

I always tell people that poker is very similar to acting because you’re telling stories. It’s a very creative game. I think people forget that poker is very creative. You’re convincing your opponent of what hand you have, or what story you’re telling with your bet. It’s way more creative than people think.

So I think as an actor, I have a lot of fun because I feel like — maybe in life I might be this tiny little Asian girl and I’m pretty bubbly, but the number one comment I get at a table is, if I’m all-in they’re like, “Why are you smiling?” And I’m like, “Well, my chips are in there. My decision is over so I’m like enjoying the moment. Bluff or not, I’ve committed myself so it’s up to you now.”

I want to have fun in the process, and of course I know it’s get very serious when we’re in big pots and you get closer to the money it gets very, very intense. But again, I think for me, because it’s still all so new — especially tournaments — I’m just having fun. It’s exciting. It’s scary.

Robbie: I hope you never lose that. I’m the same way. It’s just so important to approach events like that as a fun opportunity to enjoy yourself.

Arden: It was funny because yesterday I had a couple of friends text me and be like, “I can see you, and you are having so much fun. Your table must be amazing.” And I’m like, “Oh, I’ve lost half my chips, and ‘yes,’ I’m having a wonderful time getting crushed by these pros.”

Robbie: Phil Hellmuth has been very supportive of your poker career. How did you first meet and how did you become involved with his online home game?

Arden: Phil’s great. We met through a lot of mutual friends. It was sort of like a networking thing. We’ve got a lot of different types of people in the group. We’ve got athletes, actors, producers, businessmen, and it’s just a big fun networking thing.

Sometimes we do group trips together. We’ll all go to Vegas, or we’ll go somewhere and play and hang out and go mini-golf or… it’s not like it’s always just poker.

Recently, Phil has been very encouraging about saying, “Yeah, maybe you should play more tournaments.” I feel like sometimes with cash games, it’s tough because you can’t really control how much someone wins or loses. Sometimes a player loses so much, and between friends that can feel like a “bummer.”

I like that in tournaments everyone has the same entry; the same buy-in. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve won. There’s a very “sport” aspect of tournaments where you get one shot in that tournament. I really like that, and I also like that obviously skill is a huge part of it, but you can still get really lucky, run like the sun, and win!

So I’m waiting for one of those, and I think Phil is very encouraging in the sense of, “Yeah, he has so many bracelets along with a lot of the other pros that we know,” but is encouraging to say we can all try. And it’s true. Otherwise, why would we be here, if there was “zero shot?”

Robbie You’re very vocal about the reality of what women face when they play poker, specifically in tournaments. What actions would you like to see in poker to help work towards parity for women in the future?

Arden: This is a tough question for me because again, I have such a small pool of experience in tournaments, so I really don’t know as much. I remember speaking to Maria Ho about it, and just how much I respect her for really being one of the few women I’ve sort of seen in the poker world for so many years.

We always ask, “What would make it better, or easier?” And I think it honestly would come down to having more women feel welcome to play.

I think — especially with PokerStars giving away so many Platinum Passes to women, that’s a start. Making us feel like we belong. Not just in Ladies events but in every event. I think it just comes down to awareness and seeing it.

Even in the media, we always talk about how unless we see minority stories, people don’t realize minorities are a part of this world and the stories we tell. So I think in poker, unless we start seeing more women playing; having more presence, it’s just so tough.

Of course, that start is tough. Obviously, it’s going to be very hard to be 50-50. We have a long way to go, but I will say that the 2023 PSPC has been really refreshing to see so many women. I’ve never seen this many women playing a poker tournament in my life. So that has been really cool.

I always get really excited seeing other women competing. I want to root for them. I might not even know who they are, but I’m like, “I hope you win!” Every woman I see at the table I’m like, “Run good! I hope you run good, too, and I hope all of us make it!” I’m like, “If I don’t make it, I hope she does!”

Robbie: Do you have friends or family joining you in the Bahamas? You do have a little extra time on your hands now; what activities do you hope to partake in off the felt?

Arden: This was so last-minute that I actually came out here alone, but I have a handful of friends out here, so it is fun to hang out and catch up. We’ve been going to the water park; going down the water slide like kids and spending some time on the beach.

That’s actually been really nice. Just walking around in the weather here. It’s amazing and it’s not a bad view! It’s wild. This is such a nice treat. It’s really great to just be here feeling like I’m on vacation, because poker, for me, is a vacation.

I know… for most of the players here it’s a very serious trip. It’s their work and they are working. But for me, I’m like, “Oh, I’m on vacation. Sorry guys, I’m just happy to play!”

So I’m going to take another shot. I think I’m going to play the $3k and the $2k, so hopefully I run better in those. It’s funny because a bunch of my friends — we all busted the $25k PSPC together so we’re all playing that next event or two together.

So again, that feels really fun because, you know, not a big deal. We’re all playing it. I think a lot of great players busted out of the $25k PSPC and so, I’m like, “It’s all right. It’s okay.”

Robbie: What memories would you like to take with you from the PSPC?

Arden: I’m so affected by my environment, so I think — just this island — is so amazing.

It’s so amazing to wake up and to see this view; to be by the ocean; great air; great weather — just good food, good vibes. All of it just feels like the perfect vacation… and then you get to play poker!

I’m going to the spa tomorrow. I feel like really, just the overall experience feels really fun. I had never been to the Bahamas. I had never played a $25k buy-in poker tournament. A lot of “firsts” here, so just the fact that I get to check a couple of things off the “bucket list” feels very memorable.

On the bright side, that meant he had time to do some interviews, and Cardplayer Lifestyle was fortunate enough to have a few minutes of his time. Long a fan specifically of David’s work in Suits, it was a special thrill to get to sit with him and discuss “the poker side of his life”. Below is the transcript of the conversation we had, edited for brevity and clarity.

Robbie Strazynski – Cardplayer Lifestyle: David, you’re no stranger to poker; you’ve got some chops, which we’ll discuss a little later on in this interview. To start out, please share with our audience how and when you first learned to play the game, and what it was about poker that piqued your interest.

David Costabile:  I first started playing with my family. My dad was a really good card player. So we all used to play cards together, and it was really fun. So [my dad] would tell stories about when he was in college — he won a lot of money playing cards and I think he’s sort of, somewhat psychic. So he really had an ability to play. He had never taught me how to play. He was like, “I’m not going to teach you how to play.” And I was like, “Why can’t you teach me how to play?” And he was like, “I’m not going to… no.”

He just refused to ever tell me his secrets or what to do, or how to do it. So I had to just kind of watch him and learn.

So at big holidays, like at Christmas and Thanksgiving, everybody would come around — and he came from a big family. So we were like, Italian Irish Catholics. He was the youngest of nine kids so there were always constantly people to play. It was also just about the camaraderie and the chatter. Growing up, the dinner table was “the place.” We would sit around at dinner at talk and talk and talk.

So that was really about; I wanted to be like the grown-ups. I wanted to be able to play like them and I love games. So it was a super-fun way to be both social and be with your family and also feel like you’re included and really doing something.

Robbie: And you still have that same enjoyment of the social banter?

David: I do. I play in a weekly game. We do it on Zoom because we can’t all be together, but I did that sort of all the way through COVID. I know one or two of the guys in the game. So I met a whole new group of friends and it’s interesting to talk to them. It’s interesting to talk about cards. They’re all going to give me great or terrible reviews when I get back because then they all get to watch me on the stream.

It isn’t as if you could go and tell them about the “glory hands” and then the “sh–ty hands,” but then they get to see all the hands. And they’re just like, “no, no, wrong wrong… again wrong.” And you’re like, does everybody get to see your cards too? Every hand?”

Robbie: Exactly. It’s easy to just watch from the side and not under the lights.

David: Three and a half hours on TV! Look, I work on TV all the time. I shoot television all the time. I know what it’s like to be on camera, but you do it in little chunks. You do it for two minutes, or a minute, and they say, “cut.” And then you go, “I’m not on camera.”

And then they say, “we’re rolling — action!” You do it for two minutes again. But here, it’s just a rolling three hours.

Robbie: But there is obviously a difference as a paid professional actor playing a role as opposed to sitting and playing in a poker tournament. Do you feel, when you’re under the lights, the pressure to be Hollywood actor David Costabile?

David: Yeah, sure. You also want — I mean, I know what those guys in the booth are looking for. I’ve watched their live stream. I spent the whole last week watching the live stream which those guys are killing themselves to do, and I think it’s incredible what they’re doing. It’s hard work. It’s mostly people who are being silent [at the featured table].

That’s a very difficult thing. To make jokes; to make it interesting. Something is happening. There are cards. You can talk about the cards, but for so much of poker, it’s ordinary. Right? It just goes, “raise-call-check-fold.” Once you get into this thing, it was very interesting for me to watch the pros, and to try to glean their strategy and what they were doing.

I’m obviously not going to learn fast enough as I am going down that road. But it was totally fascinating, and also — because you’re “the mark” — so you have to figure out what part of the mark you’re going to play. Are you doing to play-up the mark or play-down the mark? Are you going to pretend that the mark is the mark? Which part of the mark is it? Are you going to reveal the mark or not reveal the mark? So, there were many pieces at stake all at once.

Robbie: You’re of course not the only Hollywood celeb who enjoys some poker. Back in the old days it was folks like Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, and others of that generation gathering around a table. These days, the Hollywood home games can boast more actors than even Phil Hellmuth could name-drop. Who are some famous film and TV stars who you’ve competed against at the felt over the years, and which have been your favorite to face?

David: I work for Brian Koppelman. We play cards together on occasion, but he’s a high-flier. So I can’t fly as high as he does. Which is good. I don’t go near [those stakes].

Hank Azaria has a game in New York, and this is a dangerous game for anyone who is not at that particular [stake] level. So I can steer clear of that some days. I play in a game with Billy Crudup and Eric Bedoucha now. A bunch of New York actors, which is very fun.

You’re able to talk about work, and you’re able to talk about it in a way that is easy. We can talk about it openly and easily.

Robbie: Is Texas Hold’em the only poker you play, or do you by any chance also enjoy some other poker variants like stud and Omaha… or even perhaps home game favorites like deuces wild, follow the queen, pass the trash and that sort of stuff?

David: It’s just Texas Hold’em and it’s only cash.

Robbie: Generally speaking, a big force bringing poker players to the table, both recreational and professional, is the desire to make money. Typically, Hollywood actors tend to do alright for themselves to the point that I imagine money isn’t the main carrot that brings you to the felt. What do you enjoy the most about competing in a cash game or poker tournament, and what sort of feeling/emotion are you chasing?

David: I like action for sure. You like to feel like you’re in the action. I’ve spent my life thinking about human behavior, psychology, and how one acts under duress. Or any number of aspects of the human spirit. So you’re putting the human experience under pressure which then is going to make it alter. Which is interesting to watch, and then for yourself, too. You’ll see like, “Oh, look how you’re shifting and moving” So I think that aspect is always interesting.

And then it’s sort of like “playing.” My job is to “play.” That’s what I do all day and what I think about all day. And to sort of enliven your spirit; to try to strengthen the spirit of your play inside of your being is essential for me. I want to “play” all the time. When I’m not playing, I feel like you’re missing the boat. You’ve missed it.

Robbie: So win or lose, you come away with a good feeling after a poker session?

David: [audibly screeches] If I had walked away from this and you’re like, “Dude, you got a terrible beat. You got it in great and got a terrible beat. I would be like, “That’s great. That’s as much as I could hope for.” And it seems like I held enough for the first two hours and felt, “Okay, you did it!” You got through the two hours and after the break they’re like, “You’re going to come back and do two more hours.” I’m just like, “Can’t I go to the other dark part where I can just shut my mouth?”

Because there’s no way to guard against it. There’s too many; it’s too much. I mostly wanted to get to the second day, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find the bag.

Robbie: Our crack research team – of me – unearthed a nice little nugget… one of the films you starred in back in 2013 was one with some (online) poker in it, called Runner Runner, where you played Professor Hornstein. What do you remember about that particular role and what did you enjoy the most about that gig?

David Costabile:  [Professor Hornstein] was a degenerate gambler and Brian [Koppelman] and David [Levien] were working on it. And Justin Timberlake. We were in Puerto Rico; we shot in Puerto Rico. It was fun. I got to work with JT. I mean, that was fantastic! Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Robbie:  You’ve mentioned Brian Koppelman a couple of times. Would you want to play a role in a sequel to Rounders if such a movie were ever to be made; and if so, what kind of role?

David:  Yes! Yes, of course! — The guy who wins the poker tournament [laughs]! Whatever they put me in, I’d do. They say, “Jump,” and I say, “How high?”

Robbie: Well, you’re here now at the PSPC, but it’s not your first collaboration with PokerStars. Back in mid-2020 you not only participated in the Stars Call for Action online celebrity tournament; you actually won it! Refresh our memories – what was that tournament about and why was it important to you to participate in it?

David: That’s true! You did the research. Did you do some of the research on the hand history? Did you look up who I beat?

Robbie: Yes, I did. We’ll get there, but first, what was it about that tournament that was important to you to participate in?

David: There were a couple of things. One was, we were all in lockdown and everybody in the world felt like, “We’re living in a hard time and we want to help people as much as we can. And the opportunity to… I knew I could do it. Just like coming here. I knew I was off work from shooting and I could come here which was great.

In that situation, we were home with our kids and my wife was like, “Okay, you should do that for sure.” It was a great opportunity, and I won. I got $100,000 for World Central Kitchen. I’m really proud of that. I believe so deeply in the work that they do around the world and we’re so happy to support them. I really felt like I did make a contribution, which was super-cool.

So to that end, when you ask, “Why do you do it? — You weren’t in it for the money.” It was better than if I had won $100,000 you’d be like, “Really [bored face]? That’s what you did? You spent a Saturday trying to win $100,000?” But if you won $100,000 that you were going to give to something that you deeply believed in, you’re like, “What a great gift! What a gift to me; that I got!” So, I really felt that way afterwards.

One of the things about it is that nobody knew who I was, because they tried to Zoom it and it was post-edited. They couldn’t figure out how to make all of it sort of coalesce, but it was great. It was a great feeling.

Robbie: Ahead of playing in the Stars Call to Action tournament, you posted on Instagram that you were “taking direct aim at fellow players Aaron Paul, Gabriel Macht, and Bryan Cranston.” Of course, you were their co-star in Breaking Bad and Suits, respectively. Among the characters they played in those TV series, namely Jesse Pinkman, Walter White, and Harvey Spector, which of those would be the best poker player and why?

David: Yeah, f— those guys [jokingly]. Walter White would be the best poker player.

Robbie: You’re here now at the 2023 Poker Players Championship but unfortunately you’re no longer playing in the event. You did last until the final level of play yesterday, Day 1, and you had been at the featured table on center stage for a good portion of the day. What were some of the highlights of your experience?

David:  I got to meet a bunch of poker players. Dan Shak gave me absolution after I had f—ed up a hand. I asked him if I played it right and he was like, “That’s exactly how I would’ve played it.” And I felt so much f—ing better. It felt great to get that affirmation because it was right after the hand — and he was like, “Can I have a picture?” And I was like, “Yes! I love watching you play poker. You’re such a good poker player.”

And I was like, “Could you just tell me if I did this wrong or right?” Because even if he had said, “You f—ed it up.” I would’ve been like, “Alright. I did. Big deal.” But he was like, “That’s exactly how I would’ve played.” So it was great to have one of the ‘high priests’ be like, “You’re okay.” And it actually did sort of calm me down, which was nice.

Because it can go so fast, and for me it really wasn’t about the win, but I just wanted to keep playing. I wanted to go to somebody and ask, “Can I have more chips? — I need more chips. I don’t need lots more, but just enough to keep doing it.

Robbie: Well, unfortunately you won’t be making a deep PSPC run, BUT on the flip side, that means you’ve got a good bit of extra time on your hands. What activities are you hoping to enjoy during the rest of your stay here at Baha Mar in the Bahamas?

David: Flamingo Yoga maybe? There might be some Lazy River in my future. I saw the flamingos this morning. They’re very cute.

Robbie: The Lazy River; I would say, “Don’t go just once. Go again and again.” It’s very fun. David, thank you very much.

David:  It’s been nice to meet you.

Robbie: Likewise.

Aside from witnessing the whittling down of the tournament to an eventual winner, however, there are a handful of specific things that I’m looking forward to — and no, there’s no overlap whatsoever from the 5 things I was looking forward to at the first PSPC back in 2019.

1. My First PokerStars Live Event in Almost Four Years

I’ve been fortunate to have been present at a number of PokerStars live events. In fact, the first live poker event I ever attended was the 2016 PCA (what a way to start!). Since then, I’ve had the privilege of covering PokerStars live events in Barcelona and Sochi, as well as the aforementioned 2019 PSPC. They’re always fantastic affairs, giving me memories that last a lifetime, and providing special opportunities to cover poker festivals for the Cardplayer Lifestyle audience that would otherwise, plainly speaking, be out of reach.

With that said, because of various scheduling conflicts and a global pandemic, it’s been quite a long time since I’ve been able to attend a PokerStars live event and I’m thrilled to “finally be back,” as this event in particular is set to be spectacular.

Lives will be changed.

Friendships that last a lifetime will be forged.

400 Platinum Pass winners will attempt to follow in Ramon’s footsteps.
#PSPC pic.twitter.com/O5eAYNWyOM

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) January 28, 2023

2. New Venue — The Fabulous Baha Mar Resort

Poker players have been flocking to the Bahamas every January since the mid-2000s, when the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) first debuted, and then subsequently became a staple of the yearly calendar. After 16 iterations from 2004-2019, the PCA — and now PSPC — has a new home, namely the Baha Mar Resort.

Just as it’s important to shake things up at the felt, it’s good for a marquee poker event to tweak things once in a while and PokerStars has clearly upgraded their longtime flagship with the move to the new location.

I’ve always maintained that it’s important for players to carve out some time for themselves away from the felt during a poker festival, and it would seem that with the menu of attractions and activities available at Baha Mar, it would be a genuine shame to be anchored exclusively in the tournament ballroom.

Over the last week, my social media streams have been packed with pictures from Baha Mar taken by poker players, and the venue looks absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to set foot on the property!

Views beyond your dreams.

Reserve your stay: https://t.co/qaUGjlUb8v pic.twitter.com/2aTK4Tll9D

— Baha Mar Resorts (@BahaMarResorts) January 22, 2023

3. Rooting on MY Platinum Pass Winner, Greg Raymer

Organizers are hoping that the 2023 PokerStars Players Championship will eclipse 2019’s PSPC total field of 1,039 runners, and over 400 Platinum Pass winners will surely comprise a sizeable portion of the player pool.

Of those players, there’s one in particular who I’ll be rooting for, and that’s Greg Raymer.

Because he’s the 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion and it would be super cool to see him win this event, too? Because he’s an all-around nice guy, and it’s always great to see nice guys win?

Well, yes and yes, but that’s not the primary reason I’ll be rooting for Greg. See, he won his Platinum Pass at the first live poker event I ever hosted, our inaugural Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival, back in October 2021.

It would be absolutely surreal for Greg to have a deep run knowing that we “helped play a role” in the fact that he’s even competing in the 2023 PSPC to begin with. Good luck, Greg!

Also, just giving a special shout out to Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Social Media Director, Chad McVean, who’s another Platinum Pass holder with a chance to win life-changing money. You’ve trained really hard and we’ll be rooting for you, too, buddy!

4. Having My Wife, Miriam, with Me

As mentioned, I’ve had the good fortune to have visited the Bahamas twice in the past, in 2016 and 2019. While I enjoyed every moment of both trips — work hard, play hard! — I couldn’t help but simultaneously wish that my wife, Miriam, was there with me. Perhaps if we lived closer or had no dependents, we’d have been able to make arrangements for that at the time. But we live in Israel and we have three kids.

Well, those kids are a lot older and more independent now (ages 15, 13, and 10), and I just-so-happen to have accrued a lot of airline mileage over the last couple years. I’m supremely grateful to be putting them to good use, and that Miriam is joining me for what will surely be the work-ation of a lifetime!

5. Playing in My First PokerStars Live Tournament

This will be the first time that I’ve been in the Bahamas that media members will be allowed to actually play in the PokerStars live tournaments. After looking at the schedule of events, there’s just one that stood out, and the timing couldn’t possibly be more perfect.

In my first newsletter of the year, I made it clear that 2023 HAS to be the year in which I somehow finally find the time to play in more live poker tournaments (I’m 41 years old and have played in 0-2 per year at most, for a total of about a dozen since turning 21).

The (Poker)Stars have aligned perfectly, and I simply cannot wait to play in the $550 H.O.R.S.E. event. To me, just getting the chance to play quite genuinely gives me just as much joy as having a Platinum Pass of my own, and I promise you that’s no exaggeration. However I end up faring, I’m grateful to have the chance to sit at the felt, and for whatever stories I’ll get the chance to tell.

Best known for his 2004 WSOP Main Event win, the “FossilMan” won his Platinum Pass at Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Inaugural Mixed Game Festival. He bested 123 other hopefuls in a $200 H.O.R.S.E. tournament in October 2021 and has been clinging to his Platinum Pass ever since. Even so, while Greg knows what it’s like to be in the winner’s circle, he’s nonetheless been the victim of a pretty awful tournament poker run over the last year. Will PSPC II be the turning point?

Let’s go back to when you won your Platinum Pass. What made you decide to hop into our H.O.R.S.E. tournament in the first place?

The day before I had planned to compete in the $1,500 Seven Stud event at the WSOP. As I was leaving my room, I looked on twitter, and saw that the computers were down at the Rio, and all events were indefinitely delayed. At that point I decided to just head down to your Mixed Game Festival and have some fun instead. It was only there that I learned about this tournament the next day.  With the massive value of the added Platinum Pass, it was just too good to pass up, and I bought my entry for the next day.

There was initially no runaway chipleader at our 8-handed final table, but as an onlooker it seemed like you pretty much managed to steamroll your way to victory. When play got down to 4-handed, it appeared to me that you were brimming with confidence and that you had no interest in doing any sort of deal. What do you remember about your tournament experience, and final table play in particular?

While I appreciate your use of the term “steamroll”, it sure didn’t feel like that to me.  I certainly wasn’t running over the other players, and stealing a lot of pots. Mostly, I was betting with a strong hand and getting paid off. Or, when I had a modest hand, I was calling the other player down, and picking off bluffs. Especially once heads-up, my opponent kept trying to bluff almost every time I had a marginal made hand. I am always happy to make a deal, but only if it is to my benefit.

Honestly, with the Platinum Pass that was worth more than the entire prize pool, it is rather hard to come up with a deal anyway. Even if my opponent had wanted to buy me out, what was the chance he had enough cash in his pocket to do so?

You took home nearly $5,000 for your win as well as the first Platinum Pass to have been awarded after a nearly 18-month pandemic hiatus. Can you describe how that felt at the time?

Any time you win a tournament, no matter how large or small, it feels amazing. It is the reason we all play tournament poker, that rare moment of victory, and how great it feels.

Nobody realized at the time that it would still be more than a year until you’d finally get to cash in that Platinum Pass to take your seat at PSPC II. In the interim, unfortunately you’ve run pretty poorly in poker tournaments. In 2022, you recorded a shade under $20,000 in tournament winnings, which unfortunately represents your lowest total since 2003, just before you won the WSOP Main Event. To what do you attribute this downturn?

I attribute it to variance. Of course, I made mistakes in my play, and could have performed better. I know I’m not even close to perfect, and still put in the time studying, trying to improve and get closer to that impossible goal of perfect play. However, I would guess that I realized something like 70% or less of my theoretical equity in all-in pots this year. It also seems like every time I raised all-in with AK, I ran into AA an amazingly high number of times.

Tournament poker can be agonizing. It’s easy to make a lot of mistakes. And easy to run bad for a long time, even if you avoid mistakes. I definitely make mistakes. But if you want to do this for a living, you have to withstand the variance, and play your best regardless.

— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan) December 19, 2022

Well, just, … FML. For the bazillionth time this year I shove with AK and run into AA. That officially ends my Vegas trip, and not at all how I wanted. I sure hope this means I’ve been saving my run good for the @PokerStars #PSPC

— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan) December 19, 2022

To what degree has your Platinum Pass – and the potential for your momentum could turn right back around at PSPC II – helped you stay resilient in the face of this downswing?

It is nice to have that Platinum Pass in my back pocket, so to speak.  However, I don’t think it has changed how I feel. I’ve been playing poker seriously for 30 years now, and as a full-time pro for 18 years. I’ve had plenty of bad runs, and many good runs as well. I am used to this sort of variance. Though it still sucks when you’re in one of the down periods.

Been running bad in tournaments all year, but mostly running good in the cash games. Playing 7 stud hi-lo regular at @PokerRoomRWLV in the mixed game. Just hit an 8-high straight flush on the river to scoop a huge multiway pot. Wish I had run 10% this good in the #MainEvent, lol

— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan) July 8, 2022

On the plus side, at least according to what you shared in July, you’ve been running well in cash games. Had that continued In the latter half of 2022? What percentage of your poker playing time is cash games vs. tournaments?

How much time I spend playing cash varies quite a bit.  I love cash games, but am not a big fan of no-limit hold’em as a cash game. It is a great tournament game, just not that appealing to me for cash. I prefer mix games for cash, and those are hard to find. I play in some home games when not on the road, and those are all PLO.  I still prefer mix games, but PLO at least is better than NLH for cash. My run-good in cash games continues, though not as strongly as it had in the first half of the year.

You published Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies back in 2019 and you’ve been a longtime contributing strategy writer for Card Player Magazine. Obviously, continuing to produce poker training content of this nature helps you stay sharp. In what way(s) do you feel you’ve gained the most from this as a player?

Teaching others always helps to improve your own knowledge and understanding, regardless of the subject matter.  Even if you were teaching me a purely factual topic, doing so would help you understand it better. When teaching a game like poker, students also notice things that you miss. Sometimes their questions give you insight into how other people think about the game. Even if what they are doing is a mistake you are going to help them fix, it can also be something you now understand, and can see in some of your opponents. The better you know and understand how your opponent is thinking, the more perfectly you can exploit that mistake, and win more of their chips.

I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this series, and I want to thank all of you who went out of your way to do so. It is appreciated. https://t.co/XZeJ9Exp2u

— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan) July 12, 2022

Besides playing and keeping your game sharp overall, have you engaged in any other specific preparation for the PSPC II?

I think the important thing when preparing for a big event like this is to just show up well rested, and ready to go. I will fly in the day before, arrive in the afternoon, and just relax all that day. I won’t find a one-day event, or even a cash game.  I’ll just chill, and make sure I get a good night’s sleep. That will enable me to play my best on day 1, and hopefully carry me through to a deep finish.

Over 1,000 players competed at the original PSPC in 2019. A similarly large field is expected for the $25,000 buy-in PSPC II. Considering the unique, eclectic nature of the field (i.e., Platinum Pass-winning recreational players, high rollers, well-to-do businesspeople, and shot-takers), to what degree do you see yourself having a shot at a big score? What would cashing (min $30,000) – or, in a dream scenario, a deep run – mean to you?

Winning a tournament is the ultimate feeling. Winning a major event like the PSPC II would feel even better.  I focus on equity while I play. I don’t play tight to reach the min-cash, nor do I play only to win, with no regard for ICM.  Yet, in the end, it is only by winning that we can achieve that ultimate feeling you get from tournament poker. If I get deep, I will avoid risk and ladder up when it is smart to do so. But if I manage to go all the way, it will probably feel just as good, and mean just as much, as winning the World Series of Poker Main Event felt back in 2004.

SPOILER ALERT!
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As the latest @PokerStars #PokerInTheEars Podcast with @J_Hartigan & @Stapes is now out, I still can’t believe that I have been awarded a #PlatinumPass for the next @PokerStars #PSPC!

Now I have to improve my poker game!#pokerlife #podlife #PITE pic.twitter.com/Y4mgThCLrl

— Chad McVean (@Veaner85) December 9, 2021

Beyond rooting for one of “our guys”, what’s inspired me about Chad is that he’s chosen to make the most of this opportunity to play at PSPC II by following a regimented schedule of study over the last five months. Since August 29, he’s detailed how he’s been preparing in earnest for the PSPC and in this article we’d like to explore that preparation in more detail.

Today is August 29th and on January 29th I will be in the Bahamas.

I now have only 5 months to get ready for the @PokerStars Player’s Championship.

Thanks again to @J_Hartigan & @Stapes of the @GPI #GPA Podcast winner #PokerInTheEars for my #PlatinumPass.
(1/4)#pokerlife #PSPC

— Chad McVean (@Veaner85) August 29, 2022

Plenty of serious recreational players are just thankful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and are content to “play the game that got them there”. Why did you feel the need to get in the lab and study in the first place?

I’ve always felt comfortable with my poker game in the games that I play, which are mainly low stakes games featuring a lot of recreational players. The fact that I would be put in a lineup of pros and high stakes crushers scares me and I know that my game is no where near their level. I needed to take steps to improve and at least make my game a little more sound. I would that say my play has always been as more of a feel player, taking what the table gives me and picking my spots without any real sound strategy behind it.

I’ve been successful in cash games as I always seemed to find games with worse players. I felt that I really needed to cram as much strategy and theory in my head and see what sticks. Whether that shows any results, well, we’ll find out soon enough.

A major component of your study has been reading poker books. Which have been some of your favorite poker books to learn from and why?

Ever since I first ventured into poker, I have found books to help my game along the way. For the longest time I stuck with physical book but eventually added audio and e-books too. Now, I do have a decent collection of books but by no means have I completed all of them.  Some I have read many times, others I read most and some I didn’t get too far. Aside from reading physical books, e-books have really been helpful as they are will you at all times on your phone.

The books that really stand out over the years were the Harrington on Hold’em Series (Not pictured as I loaned them out only to never see again), The Course by Ed Miller, Jonathan Little’s Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker series and Reading Poker Tells by Zachary Elwood.

The books that I read this year in preparation were Jonathan Little’s Essential Guide, Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen and parts of Michael Acevedo’s Modern Poker Theory and Andrew Brokos’ Play Optimal Poker.

I really enjoyed Alex Fitzgerald’s 100 Biggest Mistakes That Poker Players Make, reading it over a couple times. I also took looks at Andrew Brokos’ Play Optimal Poker 2 and Endgame Poker Strategy by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter.

I do have to say one e-book has really stood out for me and I am still going through it currently. GTO Poker Simplified by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter has been my favourite book this year and I truly feel I learn something every chapter. It’s one thing to see what solvers say but they explain the reasoning and make it easy to understand. Give that book a read!

Now, I may be known for listening to podcasts but I enjoy listening to poker audio books, too. Easily my favourite book is Alex Fitzgerald’s Exploitative Play in Live Poker. I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to it. At minimum, every flight to Vegas it gets a listen.

Some others I really enjoy are Elements of Poker from the guru himself, Tommy Angelo, Life’s A Gamble by Mike Sexton (voiced by the legend himself), The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter and Exploiting Poker Tells by Zachary Elwood.

What are some of the tips, strategies, and lessons you’ve picked up from those poker books that you feel have helped you fix leaks and improve your game the most?

There is a wide variety of tips, techniques and theories spread over all those books. To put it simply, I need to be more observant at the table, keep an eye on chip stacks, tighten up in early position and really loosen up my ranges in late position. Plus, stop just calling from the small blind. Again, pretty simple stuff.

Another big component of your preparation has been watching videos on some of the best poker training sites. Care to give a shout out to some of the ones – and any particular instructors/coaches – you’ve learned the most from?

I have quite a few products from Alex Fitzgerald. I find his teaching style to really resonate with me. Love the no fluff, all business approach and the constant questions to make sure you are picking up what he’s discussing.

The Reading Poker Tells Video Series from Zachary Elwood is just a phenomenal learning program that really dives into lessons that really help with your live game and he adds more to the program every year.

Those two are the main coaches who I’ve learned from over this year. I have also done some work on a few different programs: RangeTrainerPro, DTOPoker, PokerSnowie, GTO Ranges, GTO Wizard and others.

Same question then: what are some of the tips, strategies, and lessons you’ve picked up from those poker training sites?

The lessons I have learned again lead to better ranges and, specifically, upping my playing aggression in position. I probably call to trap more often than I should and I need to go for more value which will also help out my bluffs. Also, I need to be more disciplined in my play as I sometimes find myself in hands that I have no right being in and just spewing off chips. Really just sharpening up my play. I’m no GTO expert but I have a better grasp in it compared to six months ago.

I know that you’re mostly a (winning) cash game player. Why your preference for those instead of tournaments? Has your study helped you get into more of a tournament mindset?

Simply put: taxes. If I play a tournament and have a small profit, I lose 30% to withholding tax. But if I have a good run playing cash, it is all mine. Plus the benefit of sitting down to play when I want and leaving when I feel that I am done are great benefits of playing cash vs. tournaments. The fact that the Blinds never go up also help to be more patient and to pick your spots for big profits.

Studying has definitely helped adjust my playing mindset as I had to firm up ranges for short stack poker, which you don’t really experience playing cash. Also, upping aggression as you can’t just sit there while the blinds go up.

How about poker play? Has all your study time translated to better results online or at the live felt thus far? Or has finding time to play still been a challenge for you between your regular job and other personal and professional commitments?

Getting actual playing time in is the biggest struggle. There are no live tournaments available unless I want to drive 3+ hours. I do, however, play in a “bar league” which gets some hands in for me but not necessarily against the most experienced players. There are definitely some good players there but a lot of recreational players that I won’t see in the Bahamas. I don’t really play much online, with Ontario being ringfenced, the games available aren’t as plentiful as they used to be.

Aside from your poker study and practice, you’ve also committed to getting into better shape. I know you’ve got a Bowflex at home. What sort of fitness and diet regime have you adopted over the last few months? In what ways have you noticed any changes as a result?

I have had weight challenges my whole life and have have yo-yo’d my weight over the years. I have tried many “diets” which work until I stop them. So I basically have avoided dieting but try to be more mindful of what I eat. I track everything in MyFitnessPal app which keeps my daily calorie count in mind.

As far as exercise, I bought a used Bowflex early in the year but it sat unused until my Wife threatened to sell it. I then committed to finally getting to work. I found a great YouTube Channel that had Bowflex specific workouts and have averaged four workouts a week since.

Also, I take our dog for a 3 km walk almost every night, so I definitely get my steps in. I wouldn’t say I am in great shape yet but I have dropped 20 pounds and snug clothes are now loose. Overall I just feel stronger and I believe my morning workouts really help my mindset to start the day.

Beyond playing and hopefully succeeding at the felt, you’re obviously a huge poker fan, too. Any players in particular that you’re hoping to see in the Bahamas and maybe snag a selfie with?

There are a lot of players that I would live to meet for the first time, just hopefully not at my table. I look forward to meeting Dara O’Kearney and David Lappin in person as they have been really supportive of anything I do. Not a player but I look forward to meeting Willie Elliot who has had the job of wrangling up all the Platinum Pass holders and has done a phenomenal job. Other players I would love to meet are Jennifer Shahade, Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, Lex Veldhuis, Sam Grafton plus the poker G.O.A.T. Phil Hellmuth. Also, although I have met Joe Stapleton before I have never met James Hartigan and would love to thank them for the Pass in person. Plus, James has great taste in NFL teams. Go Niners!

READ MORE: 5 Years in Your Ears: A Chat with PokerStars Podcasters James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton

On August 29th, the day you started that “prep” thread, you also tweeted this out:

I want to be prepared but also okay with going out quick.

Trying to keep the mindset that this is a free vacation where I play a little poker, instead of a huge poker opportunity.

— Chad McVean (@Veaner85) August 29, 2022

It will have been a year between when I won the pass and the event, so I SHOULD have been properly prepared. Just really starting now.

But also, just want to have a good time and enjoy a once in a lifetime experience.

— Chad McVean (@Veaner85) August 29, 2022

After having put in over four months of genuine, dedicated prep time, do you still feel the same way? Or do you now see yourself having a legitimate shot at a big score? What would cashing – or, in a dream scenario, a deep run – mean to you?

I have kept the mindset that it is a free vacation and a once in a lifetime experience so enjoy every moment.

But, I am definitely more prepared and am looking forward to the challenge. The last two big field live tournaments I have run deep (17/794 & 377/4455) so I know I can have a long run.

Just cashing helps out financially a lot but I do plan on a better result than min-cashing. I am not going to say that I will win but I wouldn’t rule it out. The main goal is to just take in this experience, work hard and enjoy every moment.

Plus beach weather has to be better than winter in Canada, so if the cards run cold, I will be ready for the sun outside!

Karl is a proud family man who now works on offshore oil rigs after having had a distinguished 25-year career in the military. His professional career has taken him to numerous far-flung places around the world, and he’s no stranger to big poker stages either, having competed at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas as well as the Aussie Millions. Karl was kind enough to share his story with us, and I hope you enjoy learning about his love for poker and his treasured memories and experiences from over two decades serving his country in uniform. He’ll be one to watch at the tables in a couple weeks at Baha Mar in the Bahamas, and Cardplayer Lifestyle will be there to root him on in person.

When did you first get introduced to poker and what is it about the game that attracted you and that you love about it?

Pre poker, If I look right back to when I was only 8 or 9 years old, I used to play drafts with my Great Uncle every Saturday afternoon at my grandma’s house. He was a really nice bloke but would never easily let me win just because I was a kid; he beat me every time. Looking back now, I’m so glad he played properly, because it made me practice and become a better drafts player. The day finally came when I beat him fair and square, with the proud moment of him saying I played very well. Many years later, a short spell playing Bridge with work friends in the early 90s taught me that some games required a decent knowledge of basic procedure, with card counting absolutely essential.

Now on Poker specifically, the mid 1990s and ‘Late Night Poker’ with Jesse May as the main commenter, it was just brilliant viewing for me. That was the moment I thought this was a game I could get into. I loved the fact you know the percentage of winning a hand (on average) with an added bonus of watching your opponent’s face when they play. The general thrill with the big all-ins, the fear of your massive bluffs being called, the various conversations at the table; it was right up my street.

Before making the move to work on oil rigs, you used to be a military man. Kudos to you for your 25 years of service. Please share with us some about your career in uniform.

Thanks for your kind words Robbie; ask most UK military veterans and they’ll say we never ask to be in the limelight. Joining the UK Armed Forces was a decision made well before my 18th birthday. I was very close to both my grandfathers and they both served in very active roles during World War II.

When I joined up, and after gaining some experience, they confided in me a lot more than they did with others. When you join the military, it forms a bond with the men and women you work alongside. No other job can get close because it puts you in places and scenarios no civilian job can. Of course, for some, this can be a controversial role to play in life, but there was so much good to come out of what we did. Most people only see wars on TV and never see the humanitarian side.

As for me, I don’t really talk a great deal about the details, but it was a fantastic 25 years serving around the world. Every climate you could imagine, from -40C inside the Arctic circle to +52C in the Middle East, and every level of humidity in some far distant places as well. Sometimes the work was very demanding, but we all knew it was for good reason. Other times, say when training in other countries, we could enjoy ourselves a bit more if we had some time off. Overall though, the people you meet, the countries you see, the experiences you have, good or bad, it’s what gives you so many memories and definitely gives a knowledge of world life that not many others possess.

What are some of your most treasured memories of serving your country over the years?

Wow, where do I start with that one? There’s a few, with obvious differences between operational and non-operational. Weirdly, I miss the tough times more than the safer days. Anyone with a decent amount of money to spend can see the nicer things I’ve seen, but they will never be able to experience the tough days, the places and the friends I’ve made along the years.

As for those nice moments… Watching the turtles hatch and rush down the beach to the sea in Ascension Island. Looking firsthand at the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. Watching an eagle swoop for a salmon in an Alaskan lake. Seeing the smiling face on someone you’ve just helped after they’ve lost everything in a natural disaster. Walking around the Mayan ruins in Belize. Being chased by an elephant seal in the South Atlantic. Jumping out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane, more than once. Being able to see the Pearl Harbour area in Hawaii. Taking in all the views at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro! The common denominator though, working with some of the best people you can ever imagine.

To what degree, if at all, do you feel that your time in the military helps you as far as your skills and intuition at the poker felt?

I’ve met so many people, from every corner of the world, which means I have a pretty good data set of how most people think and act. I’m by no means an expert in any psychological field, I just have a good initial feeling when I listen to them for a few minutes. How will this transfer over to the table? It might help me in deciding how to play against them, but I’m not going to give away all my secrets!

What sort of poker do you usually play? Cash games or tournaments? Live or online (or both)? You’ve been playing for a good while now; in what specific ways do you think you’re a better poker player now that when you first started out?

I’m a tournament player and very rarely play cash. With my position in the UK, it’s hard for me to play a consistent number of live games, as the closest big card rooms are over 80 miles away, but I did play in London recently at the UKIPT and some other supporting games to get some live time under my belt. So, for now it’s mainly online where I’m putting the hours in. Obviously the PSPC Platinum Pass win several months ago was massive but some decent online cashes since have been a nice confidence booster.

After retiring from active military duty, the world was your oyster. What specifically made you decide to pursue the physically demanding work of being an engineer on oil rigs?

Towards the end of my military career, I suffered an eye injury, which meant I could not continue in the role I once held. I was offered a semi management role, looking after 50 or so guys, but it was all or nothing for me. So, I decided to put my notice in and looked for another adventure in life.

After 25 years in the military, you develop a pretty robust sense of humour. When looking for a job in civilian life, that was a prerequisite. I wanted to use my technical skills picked up over years. I also wanted to be surrounded by people who are professional when working but don’t take day-to-day life too seriously. ‘Work hard, play harder’ was an old mantra and I’ll always stick by that. The offshore life has all of those qualities and was probably the next best thing, although I will always miss my time in the military.

This isn’t your first “big poker event”; in the past you managed to qualify online to play at the WSOP in Las Vegas as well as at the Aussie Millions Down Under. What’s different/unique/special about having qualified to head to the Bahamas for the PSPC?

My old poker days back in the early 2000s seem like a lifetime away. I played so differently back then. Yes, I did do well in terms of getting to play in a WSOP Main Event, Aussie Millions and a decent cash in a final table of the Sunday Million. But I took a mega long sabbatical for work and family reasons, only starting up again a couple of months before the PSPC Platinum Pass win.

In the future, I may win more seats at EPT, WSOP or even PSPC via satellites but this is my biggest crack at a high roller live cash. I’ve definitely got the Bahamas in my sights now, I watched the PokerStars 2019 PSPC online, all 9 episodes… twice! A deep run is my target, and we’ll see where it goes from there. My feet are planted firmly on the ground though. Everyone knows your cards are only good after the river is dealt, so I’ll just try to get my chips in with the best of it and ride that lucky wave.

A caricature of Karl and his wife on a Las Vegas trip

Poker historically tends to be dominated by younger players in their 20s and 30s. Based on your working career and chosen field of expertise that stamina doesn’t seem to be much of an issue for you. So, by contrast, I’ll instead ask what advantage would you say being in your 50s potentially gives you against younger competition?

It’s only when I see my age written down or I have to tell someone that it reminds me, otherwise I never really think about it. I certainly don’t feel in my 50s! I’ve learnt so much over the years to know that, when it comes down to it, it’s a human against a human. I honestly don’t care if it’s a young buck trying to make a name for themselves or it’s Negreanu, Ivey or Hellmuth who sits beside me. Because they’re just poker players trying to get chips off others, like I’m doing.

Of course, the pros have a wealth of live experience but I’m still going to play premiums hands, average hands, vary my bets and bluff in some positions. I won’t be fazed by it; in fact, I’ll relish the chance to have a chat with any pro who has a good story, even if others find them intimidating. Maybe that’s where they get their edge from, knowing others think of them as a superhuman, but not me.

Karl racing a Honda 600cc at Oulton Park

You’ve been working all your life and have a wife and young daughter. Have you given any thought to what the money might mean to you – and how, if at all, your life would change – if you manage to cash in the PSPC or even make a deep run for a six-figure score?

Let’s face it, money is the main reason we all play, right? Being able to use a skill to make money is what makes the world go around. I will always put my family and main work first; anything else is a bonus. When we get to the PSPC, I’m sure for most Platinum Pass winners an enjoyable experience closely followed by cashing will be the priority. Then the deep run follows and the dream of a final table, heads-up and lifting that massive trophy.

We’ve all had a moment or two to envision ourselves sat at that final table, 6-7 figures guaranteed, everyone watching. Then we snap out of it and carry on washing the dishes. If a big win came in my direction, we’ve got a house to pay off, my family to be financially secure, an old friend to look after. Then, I can decide if this would be a career to continue or not. Who knows (where my rosemary grows)!

Karl’s wife and daughter enjoying a day out on the Wiltshire canal

Lastly, how – if at all – have you been preparing for the PSPC? Doing any study or working on anything specific? Have you begin playing poker a little more often than usual? Or are you just going to “play the game that got you here” in the first place?

Yes, there has been a notable increase in live and online play. My wife has a canny knack of reminding me, when I disappear into our study to play a few games! But she knows it’s for a good cause. Away from the grind, I’ve been concentrating more on the GTO side of things. I believe it’s really important to know because everyone has those charts and percentages etched into their brains. If for any reason I don’t stick to it 100%, I know they probably are and will adapt to that.

I’ve also bought into the BBZ seminars package and those detailed conversations been a massive help to me as it included all those pre-flop charts to get your head around. Plus, I started watching the cards face up in replays in the PokerStars ‘Events’ tab for games like the $5k Titans and other high roller final tables, where you know the players are not random ‘lucksters’ that have wondered in off the street. Finally, on your Cardplayer Lifestyle website’s recommendation, I bought an online copy of ‘GTO Poker Simplified’ to go over and see if I’ve ever misunderstood anything that I’ve looked at so far.

I don’t want to cram in too much just before PSPC though, I want to relax a bit as the date gets closer. Getting sat down at the table on Day 1 with a few winning hands under my belt will settle all those early but natural nerves and I’ll be ready for whatever is thrown my way… Viva Bahamas!

Our first story is that of 46-year-old Amir Epstein. The Canadian amateur, who is looking forward to some significantly warmer weather later this month, was kind enough to share with us a lot about his poker background, his family, his poker home game that’s been running for decades, and much more.

When did you first get introduced to poker and what is it about the game that attracted you and that you love about it?

I started playing poker with my best friends just after high school. We all sucked and used to play these dumb dealer’s choice games, which got insanely out of hand: Omaha with black deuces, snowmen (8s) and red hockey sticks (red 7s) as wild cards… total stupidity. But as time went on, we took poker more seriously and now we only play Texas Hold’em. We developed our game and followed tournament rules quite strictly.

Most of us have played at the WSOP. In fact, one of my good friends made it to the final table at two different WSOP tournaments! I think most people don’t know how arduous the game really is. It is often compared to chess, and I’d argue it’s more complex because it demands an element of chance that doesn’t exist in chess. That’s what I love so much about the game. Coincidentally, it’s also what I hate about it, too. When some donkey calls a three-bet and cracks your pocket aces with a 2-9 offsuit, it makes me feel like I am about to suffer a stroke. I’d rather stab my eyes out with a safety pin, lol.

You’ve been playing poker for decades with the same group of about a dozen friends. How did that group originally form?

We have a weekly game that started roughly 20 years ago that we still play to this day, every Sunday night. We regularly have about 10-12 guys who all have families and obligations but decided to make a conscious decision to carve out every Sunday night so we could all get together and play poker. We value our friendship. It’s how we are able to stay close and be in each other’s lives. We are a sarcastic, hilarious group, that often discuss how tragic it is that we don’t have our own TV show because people would piss themselves laughing.

PokerStars should consider producing a show about me crushing my idiot friends every week at “The Rumpus Room” (my friend Eric’s basement). For example, one of our friends made a critical error wearing a khaki-colored shirt with pockets one night to our poker game. He is now referred to as “poacher”, as we constantly badger him about his “African expeditions” and his blood thirsty passion for hunting innocent elephants for their tusks. It’s been 12 years and we still crush him with poacher jokes, all because he wore a khaki shirt. He should know better.

We tease, but we all love one another, so it’s all for fun. Our weekly game of poker allows our friendship to grow and allows us to sustain immense comedic relief and happiness that we share through the game of poker.

From left to right: Machtinger, Ryan, Jay, Amir, Wallace, Poacher, Bunny, Varj, Pam

That’s a LONG time to stay in touch with the same group of a dozen friends… how can you explain that you’re all still so close and playing poker together through marriage, having kids, and everything else life throws at people?

I know what we have is really special. It’s tough keeping friends from high school upon entering adulthood, especially since all of us got married and most of us had kids as well as careers… well not ALL of us have careers.

One of our buddies plagiarized an essay in university and got kicked out. He makes partitions now. Stay in school kids.

We chose to stay friends. We did it by have a devoted weekly gathering. It’s the only way we were able to do it. Otherwise schedules wouldn’t allow us to get together, as we are busy guys.

At the end of the day, it’s poker that kept us all together. That and our WhatsApp group, where we make fun of each other all day long. No, seriously, we have a problem. Hundreds of messages every day spent shitting on each other, laughing at the idiocy of it all, and we finish the week end with two tournies on Sunday night. It really makes life fun. I love those donkeys.

We keep it civil, so we play two tournaments with a $20 buy in for each. Top three cash. I’d feel bad taking more than that from those idiots, lol.

You’re a big family man. Let’s first go up a generation. Was poker a big thing in your parents’ house? With your siblings?

Not at all! My mom and dad got divorced when I was young. Mom took care of us alone and she took education very seriously. When we moved to Canada in 1981, my mom didn’t speak the language and couldn’t work in her profession as an engineer (a career she had in Israel). She had to learn to speak English and then redid her engineering degree in English. She was a superhero.

Amir (the “yellow corn burrito”) being held by his late mom Irene, along with his sister
Marina in Haifa, Israel

I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was 24 years old. Her lessons were instilled in me even after she was gone. So much so, that I went to law school and acquired a Law degree as a thank you to my mom. I don’t remember my mom playing cards much, especially not poker. My sister doesn’t play poker. I get a feeling she kind of frowns upon it. I overheard her telling her kids (my nephews and niece) that bluffing was the same thing as lying, lol. She is also well educated and is a CEO of a big corporation. She’s the best; just not at poker.

And let’s hear a little about your wife and children – do they ever partake in your poker passion?

Megan is my queen. We have been happily married for 14 years, and we’ll be celebrating our 14th anniversary on February 4th while we are in Bahamas! The $5 million I’m going to win will make for a decent present, don’t you think?

Megan enjoys playing poker, but does NOT have a poker face. She is crazy beautiful but she blushes REALLY bad when she has a killer hand and gets zero value because of it, haha. She doesn’t like gambling as much as just playing for fun. She went to Law school with me and is just more cynical in nature. I’m the risk taker, she is NOT.

My three munchkins are Raine (13), Rhodes (11) and Emerson (8). Raine might be the sweetest boy in the whole world. Tells his sisters they are beautiful whenever they try on new clothes or brush their hair, and is super sensitive. He is ALWAYS reading, and I’d put money on the fact that he is better read than most players coming to Bahamas, including me. He looks like a young Shawn Mendes; handsome little devil.

Rhodes is my perfect angel. She does well in school, always does her homework, and enjoys extra curricular activities. She is super smart, and absolutely beautiful. She loves dancing, singing, and I couldn’t dream of having a more perfect daughter. I used to be the bad influence, so I have NO clue how she is MY daughter!

Emerson, or Emmy as we know her, is one of the funniest kids in the world. She is a firebrand. She goads her siblings into fighting and loves causing trouble. At five years of age she started cooking and makes her brother and sister breakfast every Saturday and Sunday morning. It’s like the funniest thing you’ll ever see! This tiny little blonde girl reaching up for the frying pan cracking eggs, throwing some turkey bacon on the frying pan, toasting bagels. She is also a wild child, in every sense of the word. Her laugh might be the funniest thing you’ll ever hear in your life. She scream laughs. Louder than hell. It’s addictive and contagious.

She too is absolutely stunning, just like her sister, mother and brother.

Recently, I taught the three of them how to play poker. They took an interest in it because Daddy plays every Sunday. We play at home with real poker chips, but obviously without any real money. They ask to play with real money. With MY real money. Sneaky little monkeys, lol. I tell them that they need to know and love the game for its labyrinth of complexities. They don’t need to worry about the gambling aspect. The last three tournaments we played as a family, Raine crushed all of us!

You used to be a lawyer and now you’re an entrepreneur with a food delivery platform. That’s a very big career move to make, especially after taking so many years to train as a lawyer in the first place. What brought about that transition?

I worked in criminal law for a little while, and I actually really liked it. I left the world of crime to go on tour with my rock band! Hahaha, I know it sounds completely nuts. We were called Crash Karma and it featured members from some of Canada’s biggest rock bands. My drummer Jeff plays with The Tea Party, my guitar player Mike was from Our Lady Peace and my singer is Edwin sings for I Mother Earth. If you’re into rock and you live in Canada, you know those bands. They dominated the radio and music television for all of the 90s.

They are awesome guys that I somehow convinced to play in a band with me and each other. We recorded an album at Mike’s studio, and we got a record deal, management, and an agent to help us. We toured across Canada, playing with giant bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, Rush, and so many other amazing bands. We had three top 10 radio singles and a few top 20. We even won “rock song of the year” at an awards event in Toronto. It was my dream for most of my life growing up, and I was lucky to have lived it to some degree. Being married to the most incredible wife makes it really easy to go after your dreams. I love those guys, they are my brothers.

From playing music, I went eventually went into artist management and began managing artists and building their careers. Platinum selling artists, massive tours, the whole nine yards. Things were going swell until COVID happened and the music industry shut down. I knew I needed to do something different to help provide for my family until things normalized again. I came up with a crazy idea of developing a long distance restaurant delivery platform. Think Uber Eats, but long distance! I began by driving to Montreal, picking up orders for people, and then driving it back to Toronto where they lived. I went from being a lawyer to delivering pizzas, but I LOVED it. The idea caught fire and “I Miss Montreal Food” was featured on all media platforms across Canada.

After only a year and a half I expanded the company to offer nationwide delivery, so that Canadians could order from really popular restaurants anywhere in the country to their home no matter where they lived. One of the most famous delis in Canada is located in Montreal and it’s called Schwartz’s Deli. We were making it available for people all over Canada and it did quite well. Today the company operates on its own, and acts as passive income for my family. I really didn’t think I’d own a company that delivered hundreds of pounds of smoked meat every week, lol.

So how do you keep busy now, professionally speaking?

At present, I am building a new tech platform for the music industry that has the potential to change the entire landscape. I’ve been working on it with a really close friend of mine who is a platinum selling producer and has enjoyed multiple radio hits. The two of us came up with the idea last winter, and we’ve been building it together ever since. The platform is just about ready to be introduced to music label and artists and it’s going to shake things up.

I’ve always enjoyed being a disruptor. Alex and I have a mutual respect for one another so we have been trying to partner on some level for years. Now we have this incredible thing that could really change the game. The platform is called MySy and it is merging the music industry with the stock market. Fans of music will be able to purchase shares of artist songs (stocks), and earn royalties. We are launching sometime in 2023 and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

You won your Platinum Pass last May by coming in first place in a charity tournament in Toronto benefitting the Shaare Zedek foundation, which raises money for those in Jerusalem with Breast Cancer. This was their fifth annual tournament and they raised well over $200,000!; do you play in it annually? Tell us a little bit about why supporting this charity/cause in particular is important to you? Do you have family in Jerusalem/Israel?

This was my first time playing, and it was a blast. Over 500 people attended; it was really a fun tournament, not just because I won, but the whole night was a good time. There were some pros and a bunch of amateurs like myself. Great vibes, great people! They really did such an amazing job. I felt like I was at an award show or something. Food was incredible. There were drinks.

This charity hits very close to home. As I mentioned earlier, my mom passed away from breast cancer when I was young and left a scar in my heart that will never heal. She was so important to me and raised me and my sister with so much love; I owe everything to her.

I will definitely be attending again every year to support the incredible work that they do. I was born in Israel and I love that country with all of my heart. This charity helping women in Israel with breast cancer is doing god’s work, and I’m proud to have been allowed to partake in the tournament.

Aside from your home games, you rarely play in live events. I guess that makes playing at the PokerStars Players Championship that much more special to you. Tell us why you don’t (or haven’t been able to) play more often.

I’ve played in a handful of tournaments in Las Vegas, as well as some at Fairview Casino in Niagara Falls, and I really love it. I’m just really busy, and being a husband and a father who loves spending time with my family, I don’t usually have the opportunity to play very often outside of my regular weekly game. This tournament is going to be unbelievable. I’ve been looking forward to it for a LONG time!

How often do you travel? Have you given any thought to how you’ll be spending extra time in the Bahamas away from the poker tables?

I used to travel quite often for work, but not as much since COVID. My wife and I would take our kids on amazing trips around the world. Every year since Emmy was born we have gone away in the winter. We’ve travelled to Thailand twice, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Hong Kong, and the Dominican Republic. We go for 4-5 weeks at a time. We teach our children about tolerance, and the many beautiful cultures around the world. They love experiencing new foods, languages and wonderful people.

This summer, Raine will be having his Bar Mitzvah and Rhodes her Bat Mitzvah in Jerusalem. We’re thinking about also taking them to United Arab Emirates for a few weeks afterwards, as well. I plan to win the PSPC in the Bahamas, so there won’t be much time to bake in the sun or enjoy the island. I’m going in focused and ready to take the whole thing down.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but should you manage to cash in the PSPC, is there anything specific you would want to allocate the money to?

My kids future. My family is everything to me. I want to give my kids everything. My mom, sister, and I struggled when I was growing up. We didn’t have much. My mom worked seven days a week at a bakery for years to give us a semblance of normality. She eventually returned to her engineering profession and worked at Bombardier, but got sick some years after that. Most of my life, we struggled financially. I want to be able to help my kids once they’ve grow up. Whether it be helping with university tuition, or helping them purchase their first home. I want to do whatever I can to give them a head start in life.

Lastly, how – if at all – have you been preparing for the PSPC? Doing any study or working on anything specific; or are you just going to “play the game that got you here” in the first place?

I haven’t really prepared much, to be honest. I have my game. I’ve always watched my favorite players online before I ever qualified for the PSPC. I’d love to be seated with Ivey, Hellmuth, Esfandiari or fellow Canuck Negreanu. I know their game… sort of, lol. They are god status players, so beating them would be quite the honor. Also, I’ve been practicing my gloating for Hellmuth. What I would do for a storm out from him!

The only other way I have been preparing is at my weekly game. Every time one of my buddies plays a stupid hand, someone says “Don’t do that in the Bahamas”. Over and over again, “Amir, you should definitely not do that in the Bahamas”. “Going all in under the gun with 10-Q? Don’t do that in the Bahamas”.

So that’s about all of the counseling I’ve gotten from my moron friends. They all look up to me, because I am far superior to them in this game we call poker. They want to help, but I’m out of their league. I want them to know that with lots of practice, maybe one day they’ll achieve a scintilla of my skills and greatness. I need to win this tournament, for them .